The statements in this section merely provide background and may not constitute prior art.
Existing methods of reading data stored on a memory device are laden with inaccuracies and inefficiencies. Often, memory devices are connected to communications networks and can accumulate significant amounts of data in the course of their operation. Among others, forensics examiners find this data valuable in criminal and accident investigations, but accessing memory modules or devices is often difficult. To maintain the integrity of the evidence or other subject devices, forensic examiners and others seek to access data stored in memory without removing or otherwise permanently altering the computing device containing the target memory module.
Memory devices may be non-volatile devices such as a flash-based memory module, hard drive disks, a ROM module, an EEPROM module and the like. Memory devices may also be volatile memory storage devices which require power to maintain the information stored on the device such as in a RAM module. In the case of accessing volatile memory, maintaining power to the memory module (e.g., a RAM module) is best done by the native system.
Most electronic assemblies are configured such that the memory devices are soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB). These memory devices are typically not easily accessible and cannot be accessed while installed on the PCB. This necessitates the desoldering of the memory device from the PCB in order to read the data it contains. This frustrates the work of individuals seeking to read the data, such as criminal and accident investigators, because it causes a time-consuming task to impede the access to said data.
Given the foregoing, what is needed are devices and methods that allow data stored on a memory device to be read while it remains installed on a PCB.